1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector for the universal serial bus (xe2x80x9cUSBxe2x80x9d). More particularly, it relates to a stacked dual connector system that is interchangeable with and has no larger footprint than a single USB compliant connector.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A new standard for a serial communications architecture called the universal serial bus (xe2x80x9cUSBxe2x80x9d) has been completed and is now in use in personal computers and elsewhere. The USB architecture is fast and allows daisy chaining up to 127 devices. The USB standard defines two channels: a fast channel running at 500 mega-bits/second which will be used for monitors, networks, and printers; and a slow channel running at 100 kilo-bits/second which will be used for keyboards, the mice, scanners and modems. USB controllers are designed to handle both channels.
A perspective view of the currently available USB compliant connector is set out in FIG. 1. Referring now to FIG. 1, a single USB compliant socket consists of a rectangular shaped housing 12 having a front surface 14, side surfaces 16 and 18, a top surface 20, a back surface 22 and a bottom surface 24. Bottom surface 24 sits on a mother board 26 and occupies an area of mother board 26 which is shown in FIG. 1 as striped area 28. This area is called the footprint of housing 12. An opening 30 in front surface 14 leads to a cavity within housing 12. Within this cavity there are four conductors (not shown) which are connected internally to four pins (not shown) that project downwardly through bottom 24 and make contact with four conductors (not shown) on mother board 26. An electrically conducting cowling (not shown) fits around the outside of housing 12 and is connected to the chassis of the computer (not shown) to provide shielding against electromagnetic radiation. A USB compliant plug fits through opening 30 into the cavity and makes electrical contact with the four conductors. Together the socket and plug form a USB compliant connector that is used to electrically connect peripheral devices to the mother board on which the CPU of the computer is located. The mechanical dimensions and tolerances as well as the electrical specifications for both the socket and the plug are well known and are not part of this invention.
The problem with the single USB connector is that it can handle only one of the two USB channels. Thus, if a computer system for example is to have both the slow channel and the fast channel, there must be two separate USB connectors on the mother board. However, the arrangement of the mother board in the computer chassis does not provide enough room for two side by side USB connectors.
The invention is an improvement on a single USB compliant socket for mounting on a predetermined area of a mother board and includes a first USB compliant socket having a first array of conductors that make electrical contact with a mating array of electrical conductors in a USB compliant plug and which make contact with a mating first array of electrical conductors on the mother board. The mother board is situated within a computer chassis. The invention includes a second USB compliant socket assembly having a second array of conductors that make electrical contact with a mating array of conductors in a USB compliant plug. The second USB compliant socket assembly is positioned adjacent to the first USB compliant socket assembly such that the first and second USB compliant socket assemblies together occupy an area on the mother board that is no greater than the area on the mother board occupied by a single connector. The second array of conductors makes contact with a second linear array of conductors on the mother board.